Can crusher

Abstract

An improved can crusher which has a pair of pivotal arms responsive to the position of a piston within an elongated, base mounted tube for denting or creasing and piercing the side of the can prior to the crushing the can by the piston. The piston is activated with a pivotable handle which engages the piston through apertures in the tube. The pivot arms are mounted to the outside of the tube and their ends remote from the base are biased toward the axis of the tube into engagement with the side of the piston. As the piston moves towards the can, the protruding portions of the upper ends of the pivot arms are forced away from the axis of the tube thus forcing protruding portions on the lower ends of the arms into the side of the can, thereby piercing and denting the can. As the piston crushes the can, the lower protruding portion is pivoted away from the can by the action of a biasing spring. The end of the pivotal handle can be curved to reduce off-axis forces on the piston.

I claim: 
     
       1. An improved can crusher comprising: a piston;   a base;   tube means attached to and extending transversely from the base and within which said piston can move along a path from an upper position remote from the base to a lower position proximate the base, the tube means including means for receiving and positioning a can to be crushed so that one end thereof is proximate the base;   means for urging said piston along said path from the upper towards the lower position into engagement with the can to thereby crush the can by removing the other end of the can towards said one end thereof, said urging means including a handle having a handlegrip portion, a piston-engaging portion and a pivot point between said handlegrip and piston-engaging portions;   arm means connected with the tube means and movable into engagement with a side of the can, said arm means having a can piercing portion for denting and piercing the side;   means, activated by the motion of the piston from the upper to the lower position, for moving the arm means to dent and pierce the can side before the piston moves the other can end toward the one can end to thereby facilitate the crushing of the can by the piston;   wherein the arm means moving means includes means connected with the piston for forcing said engaging means of said arm away from said path to thereby pivot said arm in a first direction and move said piercing means to pierce and dent the side of said can.   
     
     
       2. The can crusher of claim 1 wherein the piston includes an opening in a side of the piston, and wherein said piston-engaging portion of said handle extends through the opening to thereby engage the piston. 
     
     
       3. The can crusher of claim 2 wherein said piston has bearing means mounted to be contacted by the piston-engaging portion for reducing friction and the generation of transverse forces on said piston. 
     
     
       4. The can crusher of claim 2 wherein said piston-engaging portion of said handle is configured to engage said piston so that a resulting force urging the piston along said path to crush the can is generally parallel to said path to reduce transverse forces on said piston. 
     
     
       5. Apparatus for crushing metal cans by axially compressing them so that their respective ends are proximate and generally parallel to each other, the apparatus comprising: a can holder including a base and a tube protruding transversely away from the base, the tube defining a cavity adapted to receive a can to be crushed generally parallel to the axis of the tube, the tube including a first cutout proximate the base sized to permit the insertion of the can therethrough into the cavity, the tube having an additional length terminating in a free end spaced from the cutout and from the base, said additional tube length including first and second generally diametrically opposite slots formed therein, one of the slots communicating with the first cutout;   a piston having a can engaging end and being axially movably disposed within the cavity for movement between a first position in which the piston end clears the can in the cavity and second position at which the piston end is relatively proximate to the base, said piston including first and second generally diametrically opposite apertures aligned with the slots;   means for reciprocating the piston between the first and second positions, said reciprocating means comprising an elongate handle having a first length extending generally radially through the slots and the apertures and a second length which is relatively remote from the tube, and means connected with the base mounting the handle and permitting pivotal handle motions about a pivot axis located between the first and second handle lengths, whereby pivotal movement of the handle causes corresponding axial movements of the piston along the cavity;   a piercing and denting arm mounted to the exterior of the tube generally parallel to the axis of the cavity and being pivotable about an axis that is transverse to the axis of the cavity, the arm defining first and second arm portions located, respectively, between the ends of the can in the cavity and at the additional length of tube;   the tube being formed so that the first and second arm portions can alternatively enter the cavity when the arm is pivoted in opposite directions;   means for pivotally biasing the arm so that the second portion is normally biased into the cavity;   said piston further including extension means engaging the second arm portion when the piston moves from the first to the second position and for pivotally moving the arm against a force exerted by the biasing means to enter the first arm portion into the cavity, engage a side of the can in the cavity with the first arm portion, and pierce and deform the can side before the piston end contacts the can to facilitate the crushing of the can by the piston, the piston further including retraction means permitting the biasing means to pivot the arm and permit the second arm portion to enter into the cavity to thereby correspondingly retract the first arm portion from the cavity before the piston arrives at its second position.   
     
     
       6. Apparatus according to claim 5 including a second cutout in the tube generally diametrically opposite from the first cutout, the second cutout being dimensioned so that the crushed can can be withdrawn from the cavity through the second cutout.